Clean OS install restore from backup without migration assistant?

Software
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Clean Install Questions: TS4 Dock Ethernet Issue & App Migration Strategy

I’m planning to do a clean install of macOS Sequoia 15.5 on my MacBook Pro due to persistent Ethernet issues.

My CalDigit TS4 dock won’t configure the Ethernet connection properly on this Mac, but:

  • The dock and Ethernet cable work fine with another MacBook Pro.
  • When I boot into macOS from an external NVMe drive on this same machine, Ethernet works normally.

So it’s clearly something in the current OS install, and I’m done troubleshooting. Time for a clean install.

Here’s my concern:

I have both Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner backups, but I don’t want to use Migration Assistant or a full restore if it might bring back the same Ethernet issue. I know Migration Assistant often carries over junk from the old system.

My goal:

  • Restore most of my apps and their configurations (I use about 14 core apps regularly).
  • I don’t keep much personal data on this Mac. It’s mainly about the apps and their settings.

Questions:

  1. What’s the best way to restore just the apps and their settings without risking the Ethernet issue returning?
  2. Can I simply copy the contents of the /Applications folder from my backup into the clean install?
  3. Will that preserve app configurations, or do I also need to pull in specific files from ~/Library?

I’m fine with some light reconfiguration if needed, but I’d prefer to avoid rebuilding everything from scratch.

Thanks in advance for the help.

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Before you do the clean install, have you tried creating a new Admin user account and seeing if that works? It could be something really minor likea munged pref or config file.

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I think i tried that a few months ago when i first had the issue but won’t hurt to try again, good idea!